No hand shall touch him is a strong prohibition meaning that no one is permitted to touch anyone who has touched the mountain. This is because that person has become taboo, or untouchable, as a result of touching the mountain. Therefore he shall be stoned or shot is the same emphatic form as in verse 12. Literally the Hebrew says “stoning he shall be stoned, or shooting he shall be shot.” This means that he must be killed, but it must be done in such a way that no one touches him in the process, either before or after he dies. To be stoned means that stones were thrown at the victim until he died. To be shot means to be shot with arrows. In languages that do not use the passive voice, one may say “people must either throw stones at him until he dies or shoot him with arrows. No one can touch him.” It is also possible to say “No one may touch him. They must kill him either by throwing stones at him or shooting him with arrows.”
Whether beast or man includes animals as well. The word for beast means any animal in general. Man does not mean only male, so New Revised Standard Version has “whether animal or human being.” Good News Translation interchanges the terms for a more natural order, “both people and animals.” He shall not live is the same prohibitive form as that used in the Ten Commandments.
When the trumpet sounds a long blast is literally “in extending the ram’s horn.” This was a horn made from the horn of an animal, usually a ram. This kind of horn produced a loud blast when blown. (A different word for the noun is used in verse 16, but the meaning is the same.) It was not a musical instrument but was used for calling people to war or for announcing special events. In cultures that use horns of animals for this purpose, one may use the local word. However, in cultures where such instruments are unknown, one may need to transliterate the word trumpet. A picture of a ram’s horn trumpet should be provided, along with a note in the Glossary. It is not certain who was blowing the trumpet, so in languages that must make the agent of the blowing explicit, one may say, for example, “When someone blows the trumpet.” In other languages it is also possible to say “When the people hear the sound of the trumpet.”
They shall come up to the mountain is literally “they will ascend on [or, in] the mountain.” It is not clear to whom they refers. If it refers to the people, then it seems to conflict with the warning in verses 12-13. If it refers to the privileged group of people mentioned in 24.9, then this verse may be out of place, for this group has not yet been mentioned. Some interpret “ascend on the mountain” to mean “then the people are to go up to the mountain” (Good News Translation). (Similar are New American Bible, New International Version, Childs, and Durham.) Others suggest that the taboo is lifted when the trumpet sounds, so New Revised Standard Version has changed to “they may go up on the mountain” (so also New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and others). What is probably intended is that the people could move up to the boundary line that would be set (verse 12), so translators are encouraged to follow Good News Translation.
The difference between come up to and “go up to” in English may be significant in some languages where the location of the speaker must be indicated. Since Yahweh is pictured here as either above or on the top of the mountain, then come should be used rather than “go.” This concludes Yahweh’s third speech.
The order of the final two clauses may be changed as follows: “You may come up to the mountain only after you have heard the trumpet blown.”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• No one may touch this person. But they must kill him either by throwing stones at him until he dies or shooting him with arrows. This applies to both humans and animals. They must be killed. But when you hear the sound of the trumpet, you may come up to the mountain.
Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .